Intermingling-preventive heat transfer element, and intermingling-prevention tool and method therefor

ABSTRACT

An intermingling-preventive heat transfer element, and an intermingling-prevention tool and method are disclosed. The heat transfer element is provided at a specific position with at least one limiting section, and the intermingling-prevention tool therefor is provided at a position corresponding to the limiting section with at least one limiting post. The heat transfer element is used along with the intermingling-prevention tool therefor with the limiting post of the tool extending through the limiting section of the heat transfer element. Therefore, by using the heat transfer element along with the intermingling-prevention tool therefor, the specification of the heat transfer element can be easily identified, preventing the heat transfer element from intermingling with other heat transfer elements.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an intermingling-preventive heat transfer element, and intermingling-prevention tool and method therefor, in which the heat transfer element is provided with at least one limiting section and the intermingling-prevention tool therefor is provided with at least one limiting post corresponding to the limiting section, so that the specification of the heat transfer element can be easily identified via the intermingling-prevention tool therefor, preventing the heat transfer element from intermingling with other heat transfer elements of different part numbers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Thanks to the progress in technological fields, chips in a computer other than the central processing unit (CPU), such as the video graphic array (VGA) chip, now also have largely upgraded operating speed to provide more powerful computing function.

As a result, an independent heat dissipating device is also needed for each of the chips with powerful computing function in the computer.

However, it is noted the chips other than CPU in a notebook computer or other portable electronic apparatus are not usually provided with an independent heat dissipating device, so that the notebook computer or other portable electronic apparatus can maintain their characteristics of being compact and lightweight. Thus, it is necessary to develop a new heat dissipating device that is suitable for use in the limited space of the notebook computer and other portable electronic apparatus to dissipate the heat produced by the chips providing powerful computing function.

In brief, since a notebook computer has very limited internal space, all kinds of heat dissipating elements and heat transfer elements therefor must be very compact and light in weight. The heat in the notebook computer is mainly produced by the CPU thereof. Since the CPU is located near a central position in the notebook computer, a heat transfer element is needed to guide the heat produced by the CPU to a position farther from the central position of the computer for dissipation, so as to prevent the produced heat from accumulating at the CPU to result in a burned-out CPU.

The heat transfer element is a plate-shaped material with heat conducting ability. The CPU is connected via the heat transfer element to other heat dissipation elements. While notebook computers of different model numbers can use similarly sized heat dissipation elements, they might respectively require a heat transfer element having a specific part number. It is possible many heat transfer elements of different part numbers are intermingled with one another in the course of producing the heat transfer elements. The intermingled heat transfer elements of different part numbers must be manually sorted by checking the part numbers of the heat transfer elements one by one. It is of course very inconvenient and labor-consuming to manually sort the intermingled heat transfer elements.

In brief, the conventional heat transfer elements have the following disadvantages: (1) they tend to intermingle with one another; and (2) they could not be easily sorted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an intermingling-preventive heat transfer element that includes structure for preventing the heat transfer element from intermingling with other heat transfer elements of different part numbers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an intermingling-prevention tool, with which a heat transfer element corresponding thereto can be easily identified, preventing the heat transfer element from intermingling with other heat transfer elements of different part numbers.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an intermingling-prevention method for preventing a heat transfer element having a specific part number from intermingling with other heat transfer elements of different part numbers.

To achieve the above and other objects, the intermingling-preventive heat transfer element according to the present invention is in contact with a heat source, and includes a main body. The main body has a heat-absorbing side and a heat-transfer side, and is provided with at least one assembling hole and at least one limiting section. The heat-absorbing side and the heat-transfer side are correspondingly located at two opposite sides of the main body. The assembling hole and the limiting section are extended through the main body between the heat-absorbing side and the heat-transfer side.

To achieve the above and other objects, the intermingling-prevention tool for heat transfer element according to the present invention is used to identify a limiting section provided at a specific position on a heat transfer element corresponding to the tool and allow the corresponding heat transfer element to assemble thereto. The intermingling-prevention tool includes a base and a set of assembling posts. The base includes a flat surface and at least one limiting post vertically projected from the flat surface. The set of assembling posts includes a plurality of assembling posts inserted into the flat surface of the base.

To achieve the above and other objects, the intermingling-prevention method for heat transfer element according to the present invention includes the following steps: providing at least one limiting section at a predetermined position on a main body of a heat transfer element; preparing an intermingling-prevention tool and providing a limiting post on the tool at a position corresponding to the limiting section of the heat transfer element; and using the heat transfer element along with the intermingling-prevention tool with the limiting post on the tool extending through the limiting section on the heat transfer element.

By using the intermingling-preventive heat transfer element along with the intermingling-prevention tool therefor, the heat transfer element would not intermingle with other heat transfer elements of different part numbers in the course of assembling the heat transfer element to the tool, and intermingled heat transfer elements of different part numbers can be more easily sorted. Thus, the present invention has the following advantages: (1) preventing a desired heat transfer element from being intermingled with other heat transfer elements of different part numbers; and (2) enabling easy and quick sorting of heat transfer elements of different part numbers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an intermingling-preventive heat transfer element according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an intermingling-preventive heat transfer element according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of application of the intermingling-preventive heat transfer element of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an assembled view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an intermingling-prevention tool according to the present invention for preventing heat transfer elements of different part numbers from intermingling with one another;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a first example of application of the intermingling-prevention tool of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an assembled view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a second example of application of the intermingling-prevention tool of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an assembled view of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the steps included in an intermingling-prevention method according to the present invention for preventing heat transfer elements of different part numbers from intermingling with one another.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described with some preferred embodiments thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of easy to understand, elements that are the same in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Please refer to FIG. 1 that is a perspective view of an intermingling-preventive heat transfer element 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. For the purpose of conciseness, the intermingling-preventive heat transfer element 1 is also briefly referred to as the heat transfer element 1 herein. As shown, the intermingling-preventive heat transfer element 1 includes a main body 11 having a heat-absorbing side 111 and a heat-transfer side 112, and at least one assembling hole 113 and at least one limiting section 114 respectively provided on the main body 11 at a predetermined position. In the illustrated first embodiment, there are shown four assembling holes 113.

The heat-absorbing side 111 and the heat-transfer side 112 are correspondingly located at two opposite sides of the main body 11. The assembling holes 113 and the limiting section 114 are respectively extended through the main body 11 between the heat-absorbing side 111 and the heat-transfer side 112. In the first embodiment, the limiting section 114 is in the form of a through hole.

Please refer to FIG. 2 that is a perspective view of an intermingling-preventive heat transfer element 1 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the heat transfer element 1 shown in FIG. 2 is structurally similar to the heat transfer element 1 shown in FIG. 1, except that the limiting section 114 in the second embodiment is in the form of a notch.

Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 4 that are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, showing an example of application of the intermingling-preventive heat transfer element 1 of FIG. 1. As shown, the heat transfer element 1 is disposed on a heat source 2 with the heat-absorbing side 111 in contact with the heat source 2 and the heat-transfer side 112 in contact with at least one heat conducting unit 3. The heat conducting unit 3 can be a vapor chamber, a heat pipe, or a flat heat pipe. In the example of application illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the heat conducting unit 3 is in the form of a heat pipe without being limited thereto.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an intermingling-prevention tool 4 according to the present invention for preventing a heat transfer element corresponding thereto from intermingling with other heat transfer elements of different part numbers. As shown, the intermingling-prevention tool 4 includes a base 41 and a set of assembling posts 42.

The base 41 includes a flat surface 43 and at least one limiting post 44 vertically projected from the flat surface 43. The assembling posts 42 are provided on the flat surface 43 of the base 41.

In the illustrated embodiment, the set of assembling posts 42 includes four posts, namely, a first assembling post 421, a second assembling post 422, a third assembling post 423 and a fourth assembling post 424, which are inserted into the base 41. A carrier portion 431 is formed on the flat surface 43 of the base 41.

The limiting post 44 is provided on the base 41 at a position corresponding to the limiting section 114 of the heat transfer element 1 of FIG. 1, for which the tool 4 is provided.

Please refer to FIG. 10 along with FIGS. 6 to 9. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the steps included in an intermingling-prevention method according to the present invention for preventing a heat transfer element from intermingling with other heat transfer elements of different part numbers. The intermingling-prevention method includes the following steps:

S1: Provide at least one limiting section at a predetermined position on a main body of a heat transfer element.

The at least one limiting section 114 can be provided at a predetermined position on the main body 11 of the heat transfer element 1 in a mechanical processing manner, such as punching. The limiting section 114 can be a notch as shown in FIG. 8 or a through hole as shown in FIG. 6.

S2: Prepare an intermingling-prevention tool, on which a limiting post is provided at a position corresponding to the limiting section on the heat transfer element provided in the step S1.

The prepared intermingling-prevention tool 4 has a base 41, on which assembling posts 42 and at least one limiting post 44 are provided. The assembling posts 42 are located at positions corresponding to assembling holes 113 provided on the heat transfer element 1, and the limiting post 44 is located at a position corresponding to the limiting section 114 on the heat transfer element 1.

S3: Use the heat transfer element along with the intermingling-prevention tool therefore, so that the limiting post on the tool is extended through the limiting section on the heat transfer element.

Assemble the heat transfer element 1 to the tool 4 therefor by extending the assembling posts 42 through the assembling holes 113 and extending the limiting post 44 through the limiting section 114. Since a heat transfer element 1 identified by a specific part number has a limiting post 44 provided on the main body 11 at a specific position different from the positions of the limiting posts 44 for other heat transfer elements 1 having different part numbers, and the heat transfer elements of different part numbers respectively have a specific intermingling-prevention tool 4 therefor, only the heat transfer element 1 having the limiting section 114 corresponding to the limiting post 44 on the tool 4 can be assembled to the tool 4 by extending the limiting post 44 through the limiting section 114. Therefore, in this manner, heat transfer elements 1 of different part numbers intermingled with one another can be easily and quickly sorted in the course of assembling them to respective intermingling-prevention tools 4 therefor. The heat transfer elements 1 with the same part numbers can be assembled to the corresponding tool 4 one by one, or be stacked first and then assembled to the corresponding tool 4 at one time. 

1. An intermingling-preventive heat transfer element for contacting with a heat source, comprising: a main body having a heat-absorbing side and a heat-transfer side correspondingly located at two opposite sides of the main body; and at least one assembling hole and at least one limiting section respectively provided on the main body at a predetermined position; wherein the at least one assembling hole and the at least one limiting section are extended through the main body between the heat-absorbing side and the heat-transfer side.
 2. The intermingling-preventive heat transfer element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heat-absorbing side of the main body is in contact with the heat source, and the heat-transfer side of the main body is in contact with at least one heat conducting unit.
 3. The intermingling-preventive heat transfer element as claimed in claim 2, wherein the heat conducting unit is selected one of a vapor chamber, a heat pipe, and a flat heat pipe.
 4. The intermingling-preventive heat transfer element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the limiting section is selected one of a through hole and a notch.
 5. An intermingling-prevention tool for identifying a limiting section provided at a specific position on a heat transfer element and allowing the heat transfer element corresponding to the tool to assemble thereto, comprising: a base having a flat surface and at least one limiting post vertically projected from the flat surface; and a set of assembling posts being provided on the flat surface of the base.
 6. The intermingling-prevention tool as claimed in claim 5, wherein the set of assembling posts includes a first assembling post, a second assembling post, a third assembling post and a fourth assembling post; and the first, second, third and fourth assembling posts being respectively inserted into the base at a predetermined position.
 7. The intermingling-prevention tool as claimed in claim 5, wherein the flat surface of the base has a carrier portion formed thereon.
 8. An intermingling-prevention method for preventing heat transfer elements of different part number from intermingling with one another, comprising the steps of: providing at least one limiting section at a predetermined position on a main body of a heat transfer element; preparing an intermingling-prevention tool and providing a limiting post on the tool at a position corresponding to the limiting section of the heat transfer element provided in the previous step; and using the heat transfer element along with the intermingling-prevention tool therefor, so that the limiting post on the tool is extended through the limiting section on the heat transfer element.
 9. The intermingling-prevention method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the limiting section on the heat transfer element is selected one of a through hole and a notch.
 10. The intermingling-prevention method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the limiting section is formed on the intermingling-prevention tool by mechanical processing, such as punching. 